260,000 girls marry before age 18


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Social - Child Marriage

Tamale, Oct. 24, GNA – Dr Afisah Zakariah, the
Chief Director of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, has
said 260,000 girls below the age of 18 years got married in the country.She said the three northern regions
experienced the highest rate of child marriages in the country, where more than
one third of young women about 39 percent were married during childhood.Dr Zakariah

Tamale, Oct. 24, GNA – Dr Afisah Zakariah, the
Chief Director of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, has
said 260,000 girls below the age of 18 years got married in the country.

She said the three northern regions
experienced the highest rate of child marriages in the country, where more than
one third of young women about 39 percent were married during childhood.

Dr Zakariah said this during a conference on
child marriage and harmful cultural practices in Tamale.

The conference, organized by Ministry of
Gender in partnership with UNFPA, was to sensitize, raise awareness and share
information on issues about child marriages and other negative cultural
practices that impede the progress of women and girls, and relegate them to
subservient roles in communities.

She said globally 16 million children were
married off annually before age 15.

Dr Zakariah said South and East Asia and
Sub-Saharan Africa hold the highest prevalence rates early child marriages
globally.

She
said Female Genital Mutilation was another form of violations against the
health and human rights of the girl.

Dr Zakariah said the Gender Ministry has
developed a National Strategic for Ending Child Marriage in Ghana in 2026 and
was been implemented by the Child Marriage Unit.

Mr Jude Domosie, Program Analyst at UNFPA,
said teenage pregnancy is one of the results which mainly affected girls
dropping out of school and also led them to early marriages.

He said the girl child need to be supported to
make their own choices in life.

GNA


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